Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science

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The Impact of Karkheh Dam Construction on Reducing the Extent of Wetlands of Hoor-Alazim

Received: 14 December 2014    Accepted: 13 February 2015    Published: 25 February 2015
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Abstract

Hoor-Alazim wetland in the southwest part of Iran at Khozestan province is located in Iran and Iraq borderline. The wetland extent depends on the entering river sediments and its supply. Hoor-Alazim is affected by the torrential sediments of rivers such as Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq and Karkheh in Iran. By 1998, Iran has started to exploit from the largest dam on Karkheh River, this river is one of the largest watery sources in Hoor-Alazim wetland. To supply with water of the dam caused to decline the quantity of entering water to the wetland and following it, the wetland extend has been reduced remarkably. Although various studies have been performed about the Hoor-Alazim wetland and it’s expansion, no study has been yet conducted about the quantity of the entering water to the wetland. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the quantity (discharge and rainfall) entering water to the wetland during a certain statistical period in 3 hydrometric stations of Karkheh watershed basin (Hufel, Neisan, Hamidieh). To achieve the purposes of this research, researchers used the recorded data and information from the Khuzestan Water and Power Authority during the last 40 years using SPSS, GIS, and RS. Also, these influenced the wetland expansion and also finally the dust production in Ahvaz city was examined. Results from this study showed that the main factor which reduced wetland expansion is the reduction of entering water to it caused by the Karkheh River drainage. Despite the rain rate in the recent years which hadn’t changed significantly, the amount of the entering water to the wetland was reduced. According to the results, the wetland expansion has changed from 900 km2 by 1991 to about 300 km2 by 2008.

DOI 10.11648/j.wros.20150402.11
Published in Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science (Volume 4, Issue 2, April 2015)
Page(s) 33-38
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Dam Construction, Karkheh Dam, Wetlands of Hoor-Alazim

References
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[2] Chen, X., 2002, Using remote sensing and GIS to analyze land cover changeand its impacts on regional sustainable development, Int. J. RemoteSensing, Vol. 23, pp. 107-124.
[3] Clark, P., and Magee, S, 2002, The Iraqi Marshland (A Human and Environmental Study), Amar International Charitable Foundation London, UK, pp. 20-27.
[4] Coppin, P., Jonckheere, I., Nackaerts, K., Muys, B., and Lambin, E., 2004, Digital change detection methods in ecosystem monitoring; a review, International Journal of Remote Sensing. Vol. 25, pp. 1565-1596.
[5] Dugan, P.J (ed), 1993, Wetland Conservation: a Review of Current Issue and Required Action, Vol. 1, first ed., IUCN/Gland, Switzerland, pp. 65-70.
[6] Friedl, G., Wuest, A., 2001, Southeastern Anatolia Project in Turkey – GAP. Seminar for Doctoral Students at the ETH Zurich, pp. 21-24.
[7] Friedl, G., and Wuest, A, 2001, Southeastern Anatolia Project in Turkey–GAP, Seminar for Doctoral Students at the ETH Zurich, pp. 21-24. http://www.eawag.ch/research_e/apec/damsworldwide_e.html.
[8] Ghobadi, Y., Pradhan, B., Kabiri, K., Pirasteh, S., Shafri, H. Z.M., and Sayyad, G. A., Use of Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing Data and GIS for Wet land Change Moni tor ing and Degradation, IEEE Colloquim on Humanities, Science & Engineering Research (CHUSER 2012), December 3-4, 2012 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malasia (2012).
[9] JAMAB, 1999, Comprehensive assessment of national water resources: Karkheh River Basin, JAMAB Consulting Engineers in Association with Ministry of Energy, Iran (In Persian).
[10] JAMAB, 2006, Water balance report of Karkheh River Basin area: preliminary analysis, JAMAB Consulting Engineers in Association with Ministry of Energy, Iran.
[11] Jamei, M., 2003, Introducing the Khuzestan Wetlands and estuaries, first ed., Water Research Council Publications, Khuzestan Water and Power Authority, pp.39-44.
[12] Jamei, M., Hemadi, K., Hosein Zadeh, M., 2010, Assessment of water resources Hoor-Alazim wetland in order to use in the land-use plans with the techniques of remote sensing (RS), Article Summaries of the First National Conference on Water Resources Management in coastal areas, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Water Science Engineering Department, pp. 52-66
[13] Jones, C.K., Sultan, M., Al-Dousari, A., Salih, S.A., Becker, R. and Milewski, A., 2005, Who did what to the Mesopotamian Marshlands? Inferences from Temporal Satellite Data. ‏The Proceedings of Annual Meeting of Geological Society of America Programs, 37(7), pp. 231-6.
[14] Jones, C., Sultan, M., Yan, E., Mileweki, A., Hossein, M., Al-Dousari, A., Al-Kaisy, S., and Becker, R., 2008, Hydrological impacts of engineering projects on the Tigris-Euphrates system and its marshlands, Hydrology, 353, pp. 59-75.
[15] Masih, M. D. Ahman. S. Uhlenbrook, H. Turral, and P. Karimi, 2009, Analyzing stream flow variability and water allocation for sustainable management of water resources in the semi-arid Karkheh river basin, Iran, Physic and Chemistry of the Earth, Vol. 34, pp. 329-340.
[16] Meghdad, A., 1998, Water Quantity in Border Marshlands between Iran and Iraq, Vol. 1, first ed., Baghdad University, Baghdad, pp. 104-108.
[17] Mokhtari, S., Soltani, H., Yavari, A., 2009, Self Organizing at Hoor-Alazim/ Hoor Alhoviezeh wetland with emphasis on ecology Landscape, Journal of Natural Geography Researches, No. 70, pp. 93-105.
[18] Ramesht, M., H., 1987, Natural Geography Hoor-Alazim, first ed, Art Publications, Tehran, pp. 15-24.
[19] Shabankari, M., Halbian, A.H., 2007, Studying the process of degradation, instability and ecological changes of Hoor-Alazim wetland. Humans and Environment, No. 5, pp. 31-44.
[20] UNEP, 2001, The Mesopotamian Marshlands: Demise of an Ecosystem Early Warning and Assessment Report, UNEP/DEWA/TR.01-3 Rev.1. Division of Early Warning and Assessment, United Nations Environmental Programe, Nairobi, Kenya.
[21] Zarasvandi, A., Carranza, E.J.M., Moore, F., Rastmanesh, F, 2011, Spatio-temporal occurrences and mineralogical–geochemical characteristics of airborne dusts in Khuzestan Province (Southwestern Iran), Geochemical Exploration, 4884, pp. 2-14.
Author Information
  • Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

  • Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

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  • APA Style

    Samira Fuladavand, Gholam Abbas Sayyad. (2015). The Impact of Karkheh Dam Construction on Reducing the Extent of Wetlands of Hoor-Alazim. Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science, 4(2), 33-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wros.20150402.11

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    ACS Style

    Samira Fuladavand; Gholam Abbas Sayyad. The Impact of Karkheh Dam Construction on Reducing the Extent of Wetlands of Hoor-Alazim. J. Water Resour. Ocean Sci. 2015, 4(2), 33-38. doi: 10.11648/j.wros.20150402.11

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    AMA Style

    Samira Fuladavand, Gholam Abbas Sayyad. The Impact of Karkheh Dam Construction on Reducing the Extent of Wetlands of Hoor-Alazim. J Water Resour Ocean Sci. 2015;4(2):33-38. doi: 10.11648/j.wros.20150402.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.wros.20150402.11,
      author = {Samira Fuladavand and Gholam Abbas Sayyad},
      title = {The Impact of Karkheh Dam Construction on Reducing the Extent of Wetlands of Hoor-Alazim},
      journal = {Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science},
      volume = {4},
      number = {2},
      pages = {33-38},
      doi = {10.11648/j.wros.20150402.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wros.20150402.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.wros.20150402.11},
      abstract = {Hoor-Alazim wetland in the southwest part of Iran at Khozestan province is located in Iran and Iraq borderline. The wetland extent depends on the entering river sediments and its supply. Hoor-Alazim is affected by the torrential sediments of rivers such as Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq and Karkheh in Iran. By 1998, Iran has started to exploit from the largest dam on Karkheh River, this river is one of the largest watery sources in Hoor-Alazim wetland. To supply with water of the dam caused to decline the quantity of entering water to the wetland and following it, the wetland extend has been reduced remarkably. Although various studies have been performed about the Hoor-Alazim wetland and it’s expansion, no study has been yet conducted about the quantity of the entering water to the wetland. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the quantity (discharge and rainfall) entering water to the wetland during a certain statistical period in 3 hydrometric stations of Karkheh watershed basin (Hufel, Neisan, Hamidieh). To achieve the purposes of this research, researchers used the recorded data and information from the Khuzestan Water and Power Authority during the last 40 years using SPSS, GIS, and RS. Also, these influenced the wetland expansion and also finally the dust production in Ahvaz city was examined. Results from this study showed that the main factor which reduced wetland expansion is the reduction of entering water to it caused by the Karkheh River drainage. Despite the rain rate in the recent years which hadn’t changed significantly, the amount of the entering water to the wetland was reduced. According to the results, the wetland expansion has changed from 900 km2 by 1991 to about 300 km2 by 2008.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AU  - Samira Fuladavand
    AU  - Gholam Abbas Sayyad
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    AB  - Hoor-Alazim wetland in the southwest part of Iran at Khozestan province is located in Iran and Iraq borderline. The wetland extent depends on the entering river sediments and its supply. Hoor-Alazim is affected by the torrential sediments of rivers such as Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq and Karkheh in Iran. By 1998, Iran has started to exploit from the largest dam on Karkheh River, this river is one of the largest watery sources in Hoor-Alazim wetland. To supply with water of the dam caused to decline the quantity of entering water to the wetland and following it, the wetland extend has been reduced remarkably. Although various studies have been performed about the Hoor-Alazim wetland and it’s expansion, no study has been yet conducted about the quantity of the entering water to the wetland. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the quantity (discharge and rainfall) entering water to the wetland during a certain statistical period in 3 hydrometric stations of Karkheh watershed basin (Hufel, Neisan, Hamidieh). To achieve the purposes of this research, researchers used the recorded data and information from the Khuzestan Water and Power Authority during the last 40 years using SPSS, GIS, and RS. Also, these influenced the wetland expansion and also finally the dust production in Ahvaz city was examined. Results from this study showed that the main factor which reduced wetland expansion is the reduction of entering water to it caused by the Karkheh River drainage. Despite the rain rate in the recent years which hadn’t changed significantly, the amount of the entering water to the wetland was reduced. According to the results, the wetland expansion has changed from 900 km2 by 1991 to about 300 km2 by 2008.
    VL  - 4
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